Location: North Kolkata
Highlights: British architecture
Kolkata offers you some wonderful sites that are full of medieval and modern architectural beauties. A trip to the city is incomplete till you visit those places that either existed before British colonialism or were developed in the colonial phase. One such place in Calcutta is Maniktala, which is located in the northern part of the city. Before British colonialization, the place was known as Sutanuti and was a residential place of the aristocratic native people. The place, despite being congested and old, is marked for its genuineness even now.
Maniktala is surrounded by Ghose Bagan on the eastern front, Narikel Danga on the southern front and Simla on the western front. The entire locality is woven with small and narrow lanes and passages that connect this small suburb to the main road, called Satin Sen Sarani. From the main road, Manik Tala has a good connectivity with the rest of Kolkata, through the roadways and metro railways. The appearance of the area is, in itself, very interesting, making you feel like you are visiting a British colony.
Maniktala currently houses Swami Vivekananda’s birth place, Esavi India Match Factory, Maniktala Bazar, Beleghata E.S.I Hospital, Deshbandhu Park, Calcutta Homeopathic College and Science College of the Calcutta University, which is famous for its grand British architecture. The area is connected by roadways, circular railway, buses, taxis as well as metro. The nearest metro station is Girish Park. If you are in Kolkata and interested in old architecture, Maniktala will surely be a worth-visiting place for you.